In railway traffic, it is already customary for there to be a communication link between a rail vehicle and an operational control center. The operational control center may be at a station or else in a signal box, for example. Several radio systems are available for the communication. To date, the communication between a rail vehicle and the operational control center has been aimed primarily at allowing smooth railway traffic to proceed. Additional data, such as seat reservations, have been able to be transmitted only to a limited extent. If a fault made by the radio link between the rail vehicle and the operational control center failed, a fault in the whole operating cycle has been possible to date.